Surface water generally contains high levels of dissolved organic carbons which are absorbed into the water while the water runs over fields and forests. In some areas, large water treatment plants are used to remove dissolved organic carbons from the contaminated water. However, these treatment plants cost millions of dollars to build and trained technicians are needed to run the plants. Thus, building treatment plants is clearly impractical for small communities or individual farms which may nonetheless rely on surface water for a large portion of their water supply.
Of the domestic surface water treatment systems available, most use mechanical filters or membranes to remove the dissolved organic carbons. An obvious problem is that a filter or membrane will plug over time and become useless. Some systems attempt to overcome this problem by using raw untreated water to backflush the system, essentially cleaning the filter with raw water. Other systems use high doses of chlorine to oxidize the organic carbons in the water. However, there are considerable health risks involved as chlorination of organic carbons may lead to the formation of trihalimethanes, which are carcinogenic agents. Clearly, a domestic water clarifier is needed that is safe, effective and easy to use.